Kathleen Kennedy Exits Jurassic Park 4 For Star Wars Episode VII

For most people, a promotion might entail a change in uniform, a bigger office, or a company car... if you’re lucky. In taking over as President of Lucasfilms last year, Kathleen Kennedy got both the privilege and the stress of heading one the most lucrative and imaginative film franchises ever. Something we can certainly all relate to. But in taking on more responsibility, some things just have to be pushed to the side.

In response to a fan on Twitter, producer Frank Marshall has revealed that producer Kathleen Kennedy will not be back to produce the upcoming Jurassic Park IV. The Kennedy/Marshall Company was founded by the duo in 1992, and Kennedy was a producer on Jurassic Park, the less enjoyable The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and the far more dismal Jurassic Park III.

@jackdelamare No, Ms. Kennedy has moved onto Star Wars and will not be producing JP4. She's traded raptors for TIE fighters.

From one mega-million franchise of diminishing value to another one, perhaps, though clearly J.J. Abrams’ directing role for Star Wars: Episode VII, combined with Kennedy’s executive producing smarts make that sequel worlds more exciting than the Steven Spielberg-produced dino-sequel (which doesn’t have a director yet). As far as screenwriters go, Jurassic Park IV has interesting talent in Rise of the Planet of the Apes scribes Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, but Episode VII has Michael Arndt, who scripted Toy Story 3 and won and won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, with consultation from Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg. So it still seems the advantage is in the sci-fi epic's corner.

Even though this isn’t a contest or anything, it’s clear that while fans of Jurassic Park will be losing something with Kennedy’s absence, she’ll be winning for many years to come.